Inter Server Sync

Configure the Master Server to Accept Connections From Slaves

A SUSE Manager Server does by default not allow any other SUSE Manager Server to connect, this needs to be allowed explicitly.

In order to do that, modify /etc/rhn/rhn.conf and add the hostnames of allowed slaves to allowed_iss_slaves options:

# Use this option if this server is intended to be a master
# Comma separated list of allowed iss slaves, like:
allowed_iss_slaves=slave1.example.com,slave2.example.com

Additionally take care, that the option disable_iss is set to '0'.

After changing the config, please restart the SUSE Manager Server:

$> spacewalk-service restart

Now you need to refresh the NCC Sync data with:

$> mgr-ncc-sync --refresh

Configure the SUSE Manager Slave Server

A SUSE Manager Slave Server connect only to its master server. A Connection to NCC is not needed.

During Initial Setup

We have enhanced the yast module which setup a SUSE Manager Server to be able to setup a Slave server.
To test this, please install a new SUSE Manager Server from the appliance ISO and update all the packages before you start the yast module:

Use Inter Server Sync

On a SUSE Manager Slave the functions of mgr-ncc-sync are limited. The tool you should use to sync channels is now
mgr-inter-sync. (This is a symlink to satellite-sync)

List available channels:

$> mgr-inter-sync --list-channels

Sync a channel:

$> mgr-inter-sync --channel <channel label>

Refresh all channels which are available in this server:

$> mgr-inter-sync

Forward Registrations to NCC

Slave server forward the registrations to NCC by using the parent as a proxy.
A SUSE Manager Server acting as a parent accept register and de-register operations
and forward them directly to his parent. The first SUSE Manager Server will send these
requests to NCC and return the answer back the chain to the original requesting server.

There are some checks implemented which needs to be passed before a SUSE Manager Server forward
such a request. It checks, if the requesting slave is in the allowed list and it checks
the user and password. These must match the first configured mirror credential.

Known Issues

Register a SUSE Manager Slave to its parent and get updates from the parent is currently not supported. Beta testers: please tell us if this is a valid scenario or use-case for you!

CVE Audit

Post Installation

CVE Audit needs to refresh data needed for the search periodically in the background in order to produce correct results. This is scheduled, by default, at 11:00 PM every night. You should manually schedule a run, right after installation, in order to get proper results without waiting until the next day:

Go to the "Admin" page

Click on "Task schedules" from the left menu

Click on the "cve-server-channels-default" schedule link

Click on the "cve-server-channels-bunch" bunch link

Click on the "Single Run Schedule" button

After some minutes, refresh the page and check that the scheduled run status is FINISHED.

A direct link is also available in the CVE Audit for your convenience.

Typical Usage

A typical use-case of this feature looks like that:

Go to the Audit page

Input a 13-char CVE identifier

Optionally, uncheck patch statuses you are not interested in (see below)

Click on "Audit systems"

A list of systems is displayed, where each system comes with a "Patch Status" describing its situation regarding the given CVE identifier.
Possible statuses are:

Affected, patch available in a channel which is not assigned: the system is affected by the vulnerability and SUSE Manager has a patch for it, but at this moment, that channel is not assigned to the system itself.

Affected, patch available in an assigned channel: the system is affected by the vulnerability, SUSE Manager has a patch for it in a channel that is directly assigned to the system.

Not affected: the system does not have any packages installed that would be patchable.

Patched: a patch has already been installed.

For a more precise definition of these statuses, see Notes. If the CVE number is not known to SUSE Manager, an error notice is displayed, as Manager is not able to produce any audit data in that case.

For each system, the "Next Action" column contains suggestions on the steps to take in order to address vulnerabilities (installing a certain patch or assigning a new channel). When applicable, a list of "candidate" channels or patches is also displayed for your convenience.

You can also assign systems to a System Set for further batch work.

API Usage

An API method is available to run CVE audits from custom scripts, audit.listSystemsByPatchStatus. Details on how to use it are available in the API guide.

Notes

As stated above audit results are correct only if the assignment of channels to systems did not change since the last scheduled refresh (normally, at 23:00 every night). If a CVE audit is needed and channels were assigned or unassigned to any system during the day, a manual run is recommended.

Systems are said to be "affected", "not affected" or "patched" not in an absolute sense, but based on information that SUSE Manager knows about.
This implies that concepts such as "affectedness to a vulnerability" have particular meanings in this context and more precisely, the following definitions apply:

system affected by a certain vulnerability: a system which has an installed package with version lower than the version of the same package in a relevant patch marked for the vulnerability;

system not affected by a certain vulnerability: a system which has no installed package that is also in a relevant patch marked for the vulnerability;

system patched for a certain vulnerability: a system which has an installed package with version equal to or greater than the version of the same package in a relevant patch marked for the vulnerability;

relevant patch: a patch known by SUSE Manager in a relevant channel;

relevant channel: a channel managed by SUSE Manager which is either assigned to the system, the original of a cloned channel which is assigned to the system, a channel linked to a product which is installed to the system or a past or future service pack channel for the system.

A notable consequence of the above definitions is that results can be inccorrect in cases of unmanaged channels, unmanaged packages and/or noncompliant systems.

Known Issues

Bug: The state of the page is lost (the page resets itself) when clearing the system set on top of the page using the "Clear" button.

CSV Separator

The character that will be used as a delimiter in downloadable CSV files throughout SUSE Manager can now be configured per user. When navigating to "Your Preferences" on the "Overview" page, the following options are available:

Comma (",", default)

Semicolon (";", compatible with Microsoft® Excel®)

Whenever downloading a CSV file from anywhere within SUSE Manager, the configured delimiter character will be used as the separator.